wolf blitzer in "situation room." join us every day on cnn. the news continues next on cnn. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, i'm don lemon. thank you for joining us. tp tthe pictures to the fi are unbelievable. ap and and we have news jut ap and and we have news j . tp two more survivors have found in the cruise ship sinking off the italian coast. the ship flopped over on its side in the water. firefighters located two people still alive in there. but they haven't reached them yet. the ship ran aground and sent passengers scrambling for lifeboats. >> [ screaming ]

. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> three people are dead among 4,000 who were on board that ship. 43 to 73 people could be missing. 126 americans were on the cruise ship but none of them appear to be hurt. the captain could be charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship. the parent of the company is carnival cruise ship. some passengers got off quickly and safely. others like benji smith who found the ship transformed into an obstacle course. >> we scrambled around the ship looking for the best way to go. some ran to the lower deck and some to the upper decks. we made ropes -- we made ladders

out of ropes and used the ladders to climb down from the outer fourth deck to the third deck where we could kind of shimmy our way down the side of the ship. >> did the ship -- >> we climbed down the ship with rope ladders and waited clinging to the ladders for three and a half hours in my family was picked up at 3:00 in the morning by one of the lifeboats. >> you've heard it there is an old saying that the captain always goes down with the ship but not this time. we learn what kind of trouble that captain is in. >> reporter: the captain of the cruise ship that ran aground here has been stopped be i the italian authorities and being investigated for manslaughter and abandoned ship.

these are serious offenses in hair time law. a number of the passengers won't be surprised by the fact that this captain of this cruise ship is culpable in some manner. there were numerous complaints about the way the evacuation was conducted and the lack of information on the ship for these people. they self evacuated in a number of ways. the ship was listing and they hadn't called people to the muster stations which is where you find your lifeboat. the people took it upon themselves to help each other and help them off the ship. the divers who are looking in the waters under the ship have stopped the search for tonight. they have not found more bodies other than the three dead who were recovered earlier this morning. the investigation will continue tomorrow morning. they have a huge area of the ship underwater that they need

to take a look at. the divers have finished a fraction of the search of that area. they are looking for bodies at this point. there are 51 people unaccounted for. whether that is an administrative error in the lists or whether those are fatalities from the accident we are yet to find out. >> thank you. appreciate that reporting. everyone is asking how could a cruise ship slam right into the ground? joining me is an adjunct professor of naval architecture. it seems like avoiding land is navigation 101. >> reporter: that is navigation 101. accidents do happen. collisions with other ships at sea or what we call in this case

ullition. we try to make sure that we can evacuate the ships in an orderly way when accidents do happen. >> this is a heavily traveled area. cruise ships go in this area. i mean in your estimation you're not an investigator but in your experience with this were they traveling in a spot that they should not have been traveling in? the sand doesn't all of a sudden just show up. >> i don't know those waters of course but it seems like that area is probably well charted. the mediterranean has been traveled for some thousand years. and we certainly know that the ship and the rock are not supposed to be in the same place at the same time. i suspect from my looking at the pictures of the damage it looks as if they saw it at the last

minute and tried to swing the ship to the right to miss in the last minute but when you swing the nose to the right the tail swings to the left. you can see the rock embedded in the ship's port side after the amid ships as if that happened she swung her tail over and kissed that rock. >> they are saying very much off course according to the initial reports here. i'm wondering if you are surprised by this. there are two survivors who were found inside of the ship and most likely i would imagine they have not gotten them out. they are on the higher side of the ship. there would be plenty of room for them to have a place that is not under water. >> is it a horrible situation for the people and the industry's hearts go out to the people involved in this. put it in context we are talking

about a ship are 4,000 people on board. that is about the same as 20 jet liners. if we try to imagine an aviation disaster involving 20 aircraft, it's frankly remarkable we had as few injuries and fatalities as we have. the shipping industry remains very safe in general. that doesn't reduce the impact. any one life lost is too many. the people trapped on board apparently they are on the high side of the ship. there is good reason to believe they will be able to evacuate them if that's where they are located. i'd hate to be in that situation myself i must say. >> there have been comparisons to the "titanic" here. do you see a comparison at all to that? >> it is remarkably similar. and i guess we're approaching the 100th anniversary of the "titanic." "titanic" similarly grazed an

object on her side. in her case it was an iceberg and she tore multiple kmartmentes open and as she settled down in the water the water was able to flow from compartment to compartment creating a cascading effect that led to the loss of a ship. the result of that accident is we rewrote the way that we design ship and the bulkheads run all the way up to the top of the ship. and a certain enough of the compartments can be breached simultaneously. >> we are looking at the hole in the hull there. and the question is -- it looks like the ship did what it was deseened to do and left a -- you know at least a big portion on the high side for people to escape to safety. but what will happen to the ship? will it go under? can it be towed?

what will happen? >> i'm sure she is sitting on the bottom now. she is rolled over and leaning and resting her right side firmly in the sand. that is likely to make the salvage operation easier because the hole the above water. and it's a matter of pumping the ship out or floating her erect again and towing her for repair. she is a new ship, a $600 million ship built by one of the best in the world in the cruise line business. >> chris mckesson thank you for joining us and sharing your expertise. want to go to mississippi where haley barbour says he is at peace with his decision to pardon several convicted murderers. but he is taking criticism from

every direction. martin savidge is in jackson for us. he talked with one of the convicted killers who is now >> reporter: jennifer mccray was murdered in 2001 by a man that ronald knew, her husband. >> we grew up together. >> really? >> we were good friends. >> reporter: anthony mccray shot his wife in a back in front of a room full of witnesses in this spot on the outskirts of town. >> he would have stood right here. >> reporter: mccray admitted the killing in court and the judge sentenced him to life in prison. on sunday haley barbour set mccray free after less than ten years. >> do you think he should have been let out? >> you kill somebody you need to do time. he took someone's life.

>> reporter: mccray worked at the governor's mansion. the governor came to trust him. and this week, barbour pardoned him which means in the eyes of the law the murder never happened. >> you are going to give a murderer, someone who shot a female person this they said they love and shot them in the back? you wipe his slate clean? >> reporter: for bonds there is no fresh start he misses jennifer every day as he raises her 18-year-old son. >> as the son of a man who was convicted of murdering your mom what do you think of all this? >> hi just have to accept the fact that he did it and she's gone. >> reporter: that is where the

story might have ended. >> we were led to this street here. it's an area that anthony mccray used to live. a person in the neighborhood pointed out that anthony mccray was inside the house. we're going to go look. hello? i knocked on the door. mccray came out and i couldn't believe it. >> you are the man who was convicted of killing jennifer mccray? >> yes, sir. >> the man who has been pardoned. >> he told me it was like to be free. >> i've been saved and tized -- baptized. i didn't do this. god did this. god touched -- to do this for us. >> do you think that people should be angry at the governor?

>> no, sir. we treat us like we his children. >> reporter: but judge smith says it's wrong to overturn his ruling when the murder was so ball blatant. >> the governor should not have the authority to pardon the defendant. >> do you think because of the public anger you may have to go back? >> there is a possibility. >> reporter: judge smith hopes he's right not just in his case but in the case of the other three murderers as well. >> now they will back where they started from. >> the families? >> the families and the victims. >> back in what sense in --? >> back in the grief and the misery that the murders caused. >> if you could talk to governor

bo barbour what would you ask him? >> did you think about how many people it would effect? >> that was the son of convicted killer anthony mccray talking to martin savage and his name is anthony mccray. there he is martin savage joins us live. what does haley barbour have to say about himself? >> he has come out several times. he spoke to the local meet yeah. he wouldn't talk to us but he talked to fox. he maintains what he did was the right action he says that granting the pardons was a good thing and he trusts the workers to work in the governor's mansion and he trusted them so much he allowed this emto play with his grandkids. that is proof that they are reformed and could do no one no harm. many in the public don't buy that right now.

>> thank you. a good friend of the show who is a former marine weighs in on what that they have been thinking. that conversation you don't want to miss it next.

we have a warning for you now that some of you might find this video disturbing. give you a minute. if you have kids in the room take them out. it appears to shoma arenas urinating on the bodies of dead afghan fighters. that there will be an investigation. they will investigate this fully. goldy taylor is here. she is a former marine.

and i have to ask. we played a little bit more and you can hear them. you can hear everything going on and them saying basically it's a you know what on your grave, chest beating. what did you think when you heard about is this this? >> i was disgusted first and foremost. this is not our training. this is not my marine corps. young men and women who are trained tens of thousands of dollars used to train us in the art of defending this country and our national security. when i look at that and look at what four marines did to defame my marine corps i'm disgusted. >> when you were in the marines -- honestly if something like this had happened do you think anything like this would have happened? is this out of the ordinary? >> there is always an outliar. but that is why there are geneva

convention in place to protect us and our combatants from this kind of behavior. the geneva convention is clear we are to inter dead combatants when we ka can in an honorable and respectful way. this is as far from that as we can get. i don't blame the marine corps or their command ablame the marines who did it. >> what will happen to them? >> they should be court-martialed and lose all benefits. >> i have heard and read in the some many places from on television, read in the newspapers and seen it in blogs and heard people say how can you judge them because you're not over there in war. you don't know what those people are going through. you are in your air-conditioned home and studio and passing judgment and some people say, hey, look, basically saying they

condone it. >> those the same people who have not served themselves. i question whether they have been on the front line. when we are fighting for the security of this country there are protocols by which we do that. they are there for a reason. they keep us safe. this is not a dumb prank. this is about using the tapes as propaganda for people who would fight against us. >> what about people who have a voice and a platform who -- i know you've heard it. >> i've heard it. and i've heard it on this air frankly. that is disgusting in and of itself not as satire but as a joke but to say you would do the same thing i question someone's integrity who would say something like that. i want to know if they understand what our young men and women are up against every day. i don't want to demonize the men

and women who serve our country. i honor them and served alongside them and am proud of them. but when something like this happens we have to stand up and call it for the bhaefr that it is. >> we have to go. but just one line on this. i will change subjects here. about haley barbour with the pardons. i think what you said to one of our producers he done gone and lost his --? >> he done gone and lost his mind. he is one of the most savvy political prognosticators there is of this time. and i want to know what is going through his head to put 200 people back on to the street without really a credible explanation and so he didn't bring in the families. these people didn't put forth the -- there was supposed to be a newspaper article -- >> 30 days.

>> that didn't happen. and so i'm really, really concerned when you have 200 people not one or two as the past governors of mississippi put out but 200 people put out without explanation. there is a reason we took that right away from the governor. there is a parole board. i suspect that will happen in mississippi. >> always speak your meend. >> absolutely. >> and we love it. >> thank you for having me. >> see you tomorrow. up next, religious conservatives meet in texas to throw their support behind one of the republican candidates for president. see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf

have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home.

religious conservatives meeting in houston have decided to throw their support to republican presidential candidate rick santorum. the group heard pitches from surrogates from the g.o.p. candidates. tony perkins is the president of the family research counsel and he was asked if he thought that santorum could get the g.o.p. nomination. >> i think that is the thinking of the leaders that were there that it's time to get off the sidelines and move into the process and express support for the candidate that is most conservative. >> south carolina primary is one week from today by the way. that texas gathering grabbed

headlines but there is a tea party meeting sunday in south carolina that is creating a bit of buzz. let's talk about it with shannon travis who is in myrtle beach. what can we expect? >> reporter: you can expect for the tea party to prove it is still relevant. you know, don they have been facing questions about whether the movement relevant. i have been covering the movement since 2009. they were popular and powerful but they have waned. their influence has waned somewhat since then. tomorrow will be about a show of force. hey we're still here and we can get out big game politicians. we have newt gingrich and rick santorum coming to the event. and jim demeant he has been a big supporter. so it will be a few hundred

grass roots activists saying we can still affect change and have a political voice. >> let's talk about the conservative leaders who decided to back rick santorum. good news for him of course. >> reporter: you can best believe. i mean the e-mails from his cam pane and his supporters have been flying since then. yeah, this is good news for him. i mean this kind of santorum momentum started. you were when bob vander plat endorsed him and he came in second in iowa eight votes behind mitt romney and did well in new hampshire and now this in a state like that this that values these endorsements. but there are a few problems. is it late in the season. if the goal of these social evangelical leaders is to co eles around a mitt romney

candidate he has won two races. in order for the strategy to work the others have to drop out. newt gingrich or rick perry and there is no sense that is happening any time soon. it is anyone's guess whether it will fall on deaf ears or will help rick santorum. >> we will be following it. thank you very much. we appreciate it. working parents making tough decisions who will watch their kids while they're at work. and meet one mom who is concerned for her son's future. thermacare works differently. it's the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles for up to 16 hours of relief. that's 8 hours while you wear it, plus an additional 8 hours of relief after you take it off. can your patch, wrap, cream or rub say that? so if you've got pain... get up to 16 hours of pain relief with thermacare.

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[oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. . states have been forced to trim their budgets and find places to cut back. many time child care assistance

ends up on the chopping block. >> this is red. >> at two he was going four-year-old skills. >> andrea's son has thrived in daycare. >> he learns words like debonair. he is putting together sentences. >> that's not a bunny. what's that? >> a rabbit. >> a single mother she lives with her grandmother and works at a university cafeteria and earns $790 a month, about the cost of daycare fees. i really like it. >> he has two hands. >> reporter: a year ago she was able to pay the fees with the help of child care vouchers. she lost that assistance after problems with her paperwork and had to reapply. >> from then on my son is being juggled. i keep him until 2:30 the latest i can leave and see if my aunt can keep him until my mom comes

home. it's a lot. >> and look at this one. >> she is one of 9,000 families on the waiting list. >> we don't typically have a wait list in maryland. we had to implement one last year because of limited funding for the program. >> reporter: as the stimulus funds dried up and the states faced budget short falls the child care assistance suffered. families in 37 states had less access to aid in 2011 than year before. and that negative trend continues. >> don't help enough families. we don't give families enough help and we don't provide enough support the child care programs so they can give them the strong start they need to be ready for school. >> reporter: advocates say early childhood education is key to preparing a child for school and the governor should invest more in the area. >> we can't be a strong country

if we don't invest in early childhood education. >> reporter: she hopes to get a better paying job to send her child back to daycare. >> i want a better paying job so his future can be as bright as possible. what are the three biggest mistakes that people make with their money. but first american classrooms are becoming more diverse and many schools are challenged educating children about different kutchs. some teachers say they cannot spare the time in their curriculums. steve perry offers his perspective. >> one of the biggest challenges for america's public schools is to meet the diverse interests of our country. and i don't care where you are and i don't care what school you run there is always a group that feels like their perspective wasn't engaged.

it's not just about gays and lesbians versus native americans very white people. we've got it all wrong. what we need to do is understand our children need to learn about cultures as many as we can but understanding we can't do a deep dive because there are so many cultures. this is where the community comes in. and the sooner we understand that the better. schools can do what they do. let's get them to do something well first which is to teach children how to read, write, and compute. [ cherie ] i always had a job, ever since i was fourteen. i could not make working and going to school work. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunits that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing wh profesonals

teaching things that they were doing every day, got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu.

♪ >> that's a great song. i love that song. we can all make money mistakes but often we are afraid to figure them out because we don't want to make the situation worse. terry savage is the author of "savage truth about money" and she is in a cold and snowy chicago. i hope you are bundling up there. she is here to tell us -- >> we are. >> you will tell us about the three biggest mistakes we can make with our money and the first has to do with closing our eyes. what do you mean by that? >> absolutely. what we're talking about is not so much money as human nature. and it's human nature not to

want to know bad news and we have a will the of people who are getting credit card bills or year end statements from your 401 k whether you are in debt or looking at your investments people close their eyes and say i don't want to see it. that's a recipe for trouble. open the statements. take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. on one side put down what you own. on the other side add up all your bills your mortgage and cred card bills and student loans. take a look. don't closure eyes. the first step is to take a close look. >> reality. you have to deal with reality. >> reality. >> and also you -- being stubborn, right? that can be a mistake. >> again we're dealing with human nature. this happens to people whether they have money or buried in debt. when you start thinking about

your money and the mistakes you have made you think you cannot change. if you like the way your finances ended you don't have to change. but if you want something to be difficult this year you have to change. it may be how you pay your bills, the credit cards in your wall let, getting advice on your investments but you have to be own to change. being stubborn will get you back in the same spot next year. >> i feel like this is money therapy. is there that's what it is about. >> i know you say that another big mistake is being emotional making emotional decisions about money. but it's hard not to be. >> absolutely. we have to accept those emotions. i don't know anyone that have ice water in their veins. but you have to realize when you make money decisions you are confronted with two emotions,

they are fear and greed. you don't think about those things when you are deciding what movie to go to or do i like this dress dress but when you make a decision about your finances those emotions can overwhelm you. greed can make you think that home prices are always go up or stock prices will only go up. fear is equally dangerous. it paralyzes you and keeps you from changing. greed blinds you to risk and fear paralyzes you. you have to recognize those emotions. stop, take a deep breath and think with your brain. emotions get to our brain faster than logical thought. you have to stop and take a break there. we are talking about human nature there. >> stop, don't act and wait until you get logical. let time pass. i want to say to you we are glad you could join us on a saturday night. and get back out in the snow i

know you have to go home and it's cold there. >> you're so right. thanks, don. next up a story that could make your question your racial identity. it's called passing. thousands of african-americans did it during the jim crow days. the meaning of the one drop rule. right after this break. can spark romance anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment's right, even if it's not every day. [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help

for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years.

i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. are you 100% white or black? you sure about that? pay attention to this next story. in the years following the abolition of slavery some feared a rise in interracial relationships. states began to passing law that any child who had black and

white parents would be black. any child with one drop of negro blood would be considered negro. this became known as the one-drop rule. the legacy of the one-drop rule exists in the culture today and there are a lot of people in this culture who think they are white and may not be. one such expert is an african-american studies scholar who does research on skin color politics. >> the one-drop rule was really substituted to protect whiteness. it was a way for the white majority to name and cite who was white. >> it was one drop which is 1/32. >> 1/32 of negro or african blood. whatever classification they used at the time. >> what is the purpose of this

project? >> it's a way for us to think about identity, a way for people to define their blackness if you will above and beyond legality. it's a richer identity richer than one drop of blood. >> my cultural ethnic racial background. >> what happens is when you read these neighbor fefbs you come see to see how they see themselves as black or african-american. >> i'm black and i'm proud of it. >> why is that important? >> it's important for us to see how people themselves identify. what's interesting is most people in the project say they have this experience of people walking up to them and say what are you. you look at the website and you can say they are black. she could pass. this idea of passing. but they are not trying to be anything other than who they are. >> everyone in my family is lighter than me most people on my mother's side. and the people would mistake my

mother for white and say your mom wasn't in here and they would say i thought she was white. what is it inside them that people want to put everyone in a category. what difference does it make? >> america was founded on race and racial difference and still race absolutely defines our experience. >> but i hear people say we're in a post-racial society. >> in order to get beyond something you have to understand it where have you been required to learn about race? >> they don't teach it. >> is it the foundation of this country. with you have to talk about race and about the difference. it is a lie for us to believe that we have moved beyond race. >> let's talk about colorism. i write about colorism about the difference between having light skin and dark skin. light skin and you are more privileged. it used to be worse.

let's talk about the privileges of having light skin even if you are a person of color. >> whiteness is normal tev. that means that whiteness comets to define what is human and valuable and beautiful. when we look at women the ways we determine her beauty is based to her proximity to the white ideal. and the same holds true for men. sub conscious or otherwise what that has said or communicated is if you are of lighter skin we can assume you have white in your blood and that makes you less ampbs and less barbaric and more civilized. >> this is just a cat willist to have a discussion about race. what is so hard about it? why is it hard to have a conversation about race? >> to discuss race is uncomfortable. historically black people are the oppressed.

some people don't want to deal with that reality. i'm not that kind of person or racist. but to talk about race it's not to name a person racist. >> i know every time there is a discussion about race and people say will the be over if you stop talking about it on tv. >> where in history do we have an example where silence changed anything. silence doesn't make stuff go away. it just makes it silent. >> you can read my personal story. up next a special investigation they lurk in the shadows and prey on the powerful. going behind the mask of the hacking group enormous. could you be a target? also here's a look at what's ahead tomorrow.

hey, fred. >> hi, don. while much of the nation has not received much snow this winter quite the opposite in alaska. in cordova they are digging out of a record 18-foot snowfall. the national guard is there to help move it but where to put it? and that's just the tip of the iceberg testing survival skills with three more months of winter. we talk to the editor of the cordova times tomorrow. we're back after a quick break. and i'm thinking, "shouldn't you have more energy than me? you're, like, eight!" [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. simple. effective. advantage: mom. let's fight fat with alli ♪

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all right, you may have heard of the hacking group anonymous. they have made headlines for hijacking web site, stealing credit card numbers and hacking into the computers of government and business entities. cnn's amber lion got a chance to get to know anonymous and she takes us inside this secretive group. >> hey, back up, back up. >> it's a dark and disturbing vision. a world where riot police attack with impunity. >> what happened? what happened? >> he got [ bleep ] shot! >> where democracy is corrupted by greed and dissent is crushed. that's how anonymous sees america, and they say that's why they're fighting back. >> we are legion.

we do not forgive. we do not forget. >> troy, not his real name, is one of them. we met him at the occupy wall street camp at the park. >> it's more like whoever agrees with it, if the overwhelming majority of people agree with it, we go with it. >> anonymous likens itself to the air force of the occupy movement. >> everyone, everywhere will be occupying their towns and capitals and other space ing. >> reporter: when they see evidence of what they believe is police misbehavior, anonymous strikes back, releasing personal information about specific officers. >> hopefully he'll think twice before he pulls out his baton against somebody who is holding a sign say we go just want peace. >> how are they getting the cell phone numbers or personal information of these officers or

banke bankers? >> aid rather not say. >> the department of homeland security has put out several alerts focused mainly on the group's hacking activities and the fbi has made more than a dozen arrests. but there's no indication that has cramped anonymous's style. >> merry christmas and a happy new year to all on planet earth. >> reporter: on christmas day members crashed the web site of a security research company, hacking its client list along with their credit card numbers in order to steal $1 million for donations to charity. >> we are anonymous. expect us. >> that's just a small part of it. it looks fascinating. amber is live with us from portland, oregon.

anonymous has taken up the occupy cause but just today they have targeted media executives, including one at our parent company time warner. i think it has to do with a stopline piracy act, right? >> anonymous have very upset because they feel the media execs are sporting sopa. you could face jail time if you posted any type of copy righted video, tv movie clips on sites like youtube. one side of the story you've got these media execs saying sopa will protect their ability to generate an income and protect intellectual property. you have anonymous saying this is internet censorship. a lot of areas are gray. one thing, though, black and white, is how much anons just detest any type of internet censorship. in the year to come in 2012 we'll see a lot more victims of them which we'll tell you more

about the infamous luls. >> there's a focus on how anonymous sees itself, like the occupy movements, as the watch dog and keeping an eye on police during the protests. but you didn't have any luck getting law enforcement to talk with you on camera for tonight's special. why is that? >> well, that shows you, don, just the power of this collective and the fear, how much enemies of this collective or perceived enemies fear ticking anonymous off. in this situation anonymous has had a beef with some law enforcement agencies over what they feel were human rights abuses during some of these occupy protests. so we reached out to federal, local law enforcement agencies to get an interview and no one would offer up any type of spokesman or officer to speak about anonymous because they were too scared that person would then become a target, don. >> can you understand the fear, amber, after having done this

story? >> i can understand the fear, yes. people even told me, don, they said, amber, are you crazy? how are you taking on that story? because if you tick off one of the anons, they may come after you as well and i felt like it was important for us to take on the story because it hasn't necessarily all sides it have have not been told and we were really able to with this special get inside the mentality of the majority of anons to kind of explain to you what's happening. >> all right. amber lyon, thank you very much. we look forward to that. don't forget -- >> thank, don. >> you're very welcome. don't forget to catch amber's report tonight. it part of a cnn "presents." see you back here at 10:00 p.m. eastern. "cnn presents" begins two and a half minutes from now.